Property Fund - Suspended

gadgetmind

jimjames wrote: »

I'm afraid the ridiculous view seems to be yours.

Um, that's a little harsh. He did say "All a learning curve for me folks" so maybe a little slack?

simonfitba

gadgetmind wrote: »

Those are two of the larger ones, and we do hold one of them, but some of the tiddlers seem to be more hungry. Of course, you can just use the IUKP ETF if you can't decide.

Good tip Gadget, thanks.

dunstonh

I leave others to comment on why professional advisers almost exclusively steer naive consumers towards these products.

1 - most allocations to property tend to be no more than 15%. So, it is a minority holding.
2 - most advisers wont be authorised to recommend the alternatives (IFAs can but most restricted wont).
3 - No FSCS protection on the alternatives.
4 - the alternatives are considered higher risk and specialist.
5 - habit

Habit may seem strange but these property funds have been around a very very long time and been fine. Insurance companies have done a good job with property funds historically. in most periods, bricks and mortar unit linked funds tend to be steady performers with low volatility. However, that 5% of the time when things are bad causes periods like this. For the long term investor, which is the type most advisers deal with, this is not an issue. They sail through it and come out the other end. For the trader type investor, they should never be in these. And I suspect it is the trading types that have gone into them and inflated things and it is those that are trying to pull out.

Trends are changing and perhaps property funds need to be restructured to reflect those changes. Who can influence those changes? The FCA. So, I guess we wont be seeing any changes soon then!

jimjames

gadgetmind wrote: »

Um, that's a little harsh. He did say "All a learning curve for me folks" so maybe a little slack?

Yes, point taken and accepted as they seem to have realised themselves. Post was after I'd replied so now edited.

homerhotspur

I ,too, have learned a bit about these funds( I have Henderson). I can understand why this is happening but I just wondered , out of interest, whether there is something in the small print of these funds whch allows them to withold your money? Say you needed it in an emergency, can you withdraw it under certain criteria?

gadgetmind

homerhotspur wrote: »

Say you needed it in an emergency, can you withdraw it under certain criteria?

I suspect (but don't know) that it might be possible on death, but that might not be too useful to you.

SimonBlake

In contrast to commercial property funds, the specialist property funds seem to have held up quite well like student accommodation. Taught me a lesson.

masonic

SimonBlake wrote: »

In contrast to commercial property funds, the specialist property funds seem to have held up quite well like student accommodation. Taught me a lesson.

I wouldn't be so confident about student accommodation being unaffected by Brexit.

gadgetmind

Universities are in *real* trouble for multiple reasons, and yes, student numbers are going to drop, particularly those with enough money for anything other than basic accommodation.

EdGasket

No reason that student numbers should drop. We can still issue visas to foreign students to come here and study.